Chapter 23
Present Time
In the state of New York, a gloomy thunderstorm drove the people into their homes and off of the streets. The winds were strong and howling, the pitch darkness that was interrupted by the flickering street lamp, created an eerie mood.
It was the perfect time and place for murder.
A person who wore a black face mask and a black hoodie was laying on the edge of the tower with her eyes closed. She was listening to the sounds of someone's footsteps from down below and waited for the right time to strike. Her eyes snapped open when she felt that the person was exactly where she wanted her to be.
She stood up on the edge of the tower with her hands in her pocket and her eyes trained on a target below. From up here, everyone looked like an ant, even the city looked distant. But that didn't matter. She moved one foot over the edge, and allowed gravity to pull her to the ground. She closed her eyes until she found the right moment to pull her hands out of her pocket and release a quake towards the ground to break her fall. She landed with her knees bent, and a crack in the ground but that didn't matter. She slowly straightened her knees and her back and looked at her target.
"N-N-No. Please d-dont"
She didn't understand why her victims always begged her to not kill them. She didn't even say anything to them. She walked over to the porcupine looking girl and took her hoodie off, allowing the rain to drench her now short hair that was up to her shoulders. She ripped off her mask to reveal her face.
"D-Dasiy?". Daisy walked over to the girl who turned around and ran but she was trapped. It was a dead end, "W-Why are you hunting us? We're your people"
Daisy raised an eyebrow and let out a sadistic laugh. She was going to say something but before she could, someone materialised behind Raina. Daisy looked at Gordon who was wearing his infamous coat, "She's your responsibility" there was no anger or resentment in her voice. It was just a simple fact.
Raina whipped her head around to see Gordon, practically snarling as he sensed Raina's presence. Without thought, he gripped her by the neck and slammed her against the wall, "Because of you… We lost our homes! We lost our hope!"
Raina began struggling for air but Daisy didn't care. She walked over to the briefcase that Raina was holding when she came into the alley and picked it up. She quaked the lock open and opened to find a serum that was making Calvin go all hulk mode.
When Daisy came to her senses and buried Jiaying with Gordon by her side. She had checked the security cameras that she personally installed in case anything happened. Imagine her surprise when she saw Ward walking through the Afterlife and setting everything ablazed. There was no emotions in his eyes and no self-awareness, that's when she realised that Ward had the nanotechnology installed, just like she did.
But that wasn't the only shocking thing. After she blew up the upper level of her house, she watched as Calvin had been flung into the wall. A normal person's back would break, but he got up and ran away like nothing had happened.
"You've been making him the serum haven't you?" Gordon growled.
Daisy rolled her eyes when she heard Raina choking for her air, "She can't speak if she can't breathe". Right. Gordon let go of her but not without a swift kick into her stomach that made her collapse to the ground and vomit out her breakfast, "Ew. Go for the face, not the stomach" she complained.
"I don't want to have her porcupine in my fists" Gordon replied, "Now answer the question"
Daisy rolled her eyes when Raina attempted to raise her fist and scratch Gordon's face. This wasn't their first rodeo. She clenched her fists which caused the bones in Raina's wrist to shatter, "You know… Gordon doesn't like being wrong. You better answer his questions before he gets mad". Daisy knew that Gordon was blaming himself for trusting Raina, but Daisy had reassured him that it was because of his naivety, it was because of the goodness in his heart. But now, he thought that was a weakness.
"She's right" Gordon crouched down to the crying women and asked her again, "The serum...speak!"
Raina cradled her wrist to her chest and shakily said, "Yes… It's a serum that I have created for him in return for power. The serum gives him super strength and the ability to temporarily heal"
"Does he know how to make it?" Gordon questioned further.
Raina shook her head, "This has GH-325 components in it. This is the last batch"
"Good," She said as she poured all of the serums out of the briefcase and stomped on it.
"Stop! What are you doing?" Raina cried as she watched all of the serum that she had been working on being stomped on, "He's going to kill me!" she screamed.
Daisy looked at Gordon and laughed, "Him? Kill you? And what makes you think that you're leaving here alive?"
Raina looked between the two with confusion, "I-I told you everything you want to know. You have morals… you won't kill me"
Daisy pointed at herself and scoffed, "Morals?" she stepped on Raina's hand that was reaching out for the serum, causing the women to scream in pain, "My morals died with my mum", she began clenching her fist which caused Raina's heart painful stop. She saw a smirk appear on Gordon's face as Raina let out a torturous scream before her heart stopped beating.
Daisy drummed her fingers against the wooden table as she looked at the whiteboard with large x's across the enhance face. These were the people who had actively colluded with HYDRA and Calvin. She was sitting in a crappy old chair that hurt her back, and in a small tight box underground.
"Chica, you need to get some rest", Daisy could hear Yo-Yo coming down the stairs but she ignored the Colombian women and continued to stare at the whiteboard. Yo-Yo sighed when she saw that Daisy showed no signs of moving from her spot. She sat down on the crappy bed in the corner and looked at the whiteboard, "Skye"
Daisy tapped her finger against her arm, she knew that Yo-Yo wanted to talk to her about what happened in the Afterlife but she didn't want to. She didn't want to talk to anyone except for Calvin who she was planning to punch a hole through his chest and rip out his heart.
When Yo-Yo heard about the Afterlife, she couldn't help but think that this was her fault. If she wasn't so focused on reforming Colombia and saving her people from oppression, then maybe Jiaying would be alive. It was no secret that the closest people to Jiaying was Daisy and Gordon, everyone else simply respected her and were inspired by her want for peace. Jiaying was actually the person who encouraged her to leave the Afterlife and attempt to liberate her people from the corrupt police.
"It's been two months. You barely eat or sleep. All you do is go out and hunt!" Yo-Yo was seriously worried about her friend, she treated Daisy like she was her leader but there were moments where she saw her as her little sister.
"Yo-Yo, I'm not in the mood"
"You're never in the mood" Yo-Yo shouted as she stood up from the bed and stormed in front of the whiteboard to block Daisy's view, "Why don't you just talk to me chica? Let me help you!"
"Help?" Daisy displayed no emotions in her voice other than annoyance, "You can barely help yourself let alone me"
Yo-Yo knew that Daisy was angry and hurting, but she wasn't going to let Daisy go off the deep end, not anymore. She was tired of watching this young girl do everything for them. She never realised it before, but Daisy was more than just an personal inhuman assassin for them, she was also a young girl who felt things, "Skye, you can't keep doing this. What happens when you run out of targets to kill? Or when you kill Calvin? Are you just going to go back to HYDRA?"
Daisy clenched her jaw at the thought of going back to HYDRA. No, she couldn't do that… she couldn't do it to S.H.I.E.L.D…. She couldn't do that to May and Coulson. She stopped herself from thinking about them because everytime she did, she felt like breaking down and running into their arms. They were the only safe place that she could think of, and that was dangerous because everytime she felt safe, something bad happened.
Yo-Yo saw something flash in Daisy's eyes and for the first time, she saw a raw emotions that she didn't think Daisy was capable of feeling, she was longing for something. But the emotion immediately disappeared into thin air, as if she flipped a switch. She wondered what Daisy must have thought about to have that look in her eyes.
"Jiaying wouldn't want you to live like this" Yo-Yo instantly knew she said the wrong thing when she saw the red bull can be crushed without anyone touching it. She was lucky that Daisy was channelling her anger in the can rather than her. She moved out of the way, just in case Daisy quaked her into the wall. She knew that Daisy had mastered her powers, which made her all the more dangerous. Yo-Yo decided that she should prove to Daisy that she was useful by looking at the whiteboard and trying to see something that Daisy didn't, "Okay… so these are the people willingly working for HYDRA and Calvin… why? They're experiments like us"
"My mu…" Daisy stopped herself and shook her head, "Jiaying mentioned that she used to own a clinic and that Calvin had worked with her there. When Gordon and I went there, we found boxes filled with people who he had enhanced"
"Willingly?"
Daisy nodded her head. She was disgusted by the thought of undergoing these experiments willingly, if she had a choice, even if she did have full control over her powers, she wouldn't.
"That's messed up… I understand terrigenesis but willingly being enhanced is more painful"
Daisy raised her eyebrow at her, "You understand terrigenesis?"
"Understand it… accept it. Either way, these powers are a part of me and I don't regret it"
Daisy wished she could be like Yo-Yo, she wished that she could say she would go through the pain of the experiments again, but she wouldn't, "That makes one of us"
"You don't like your powers? I thought since you were able to control it…"
"No" Daisy cut her off with a stern voice. She became exactly what Calvin wanted her to become, an inhuman. A monster. A killing machine. The Destroyer of Worlds. He had opened Pandora's box and she wasn't going to make him regret reviving her.
Daisy was saved from further questioning when Gordon suddenly teleported in with Deathlok in full suit.
"Gordon". Yo-Yo greeted as she looked at the inhuman who gave her a slight nod to acknowledge her greeting, "Who's this man?"
"Easy Yo-Yo" Daisy said when she saw Yo-Yo clenched her hand and ready to pounce if this guy turns out to be a threat, "He's an ally"
"An inhuman?" She asked.
Daisy shook her head, "No, but I trust him"
If Daisy trusted him, that was enough for her but she eyed him suspicious and he eyed her suspiciously back. Daisy rolled her eyes and gestured for Gordon to start speaking but then she remembered that he was blind, "Gordon"
"Calvin killed another of our own" Daisy really didn't want him to start the conversation like that. Calvin has been killing Inhumans while she was killing enhanced. It was a messed up and twisted war between them, "But he left a message this time"
"A message?" Yo-Yo questioned as she crossed her arm over her chest.
Mike nodded his head, "Afterlife"
Daisy hasn't been there since burying Jiaying's corpse. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to bang her head against the metal desk, "He's declaring a war" she growled. She didn't like her chances, not with Ward on their side. He was going to be a pain in the ass to deal with and it doesn't help that he also had enhanced people with him.
"Since Calvin knows that we have been eliminating his subjects and have destroyed the last of his supplies, he decided to change tactics and recruit enhanced people who are on S.H.I.E.L.D's index" Mike said.
"Wait, what index?" Daisy asked as she now stood up from her chair and looked at Gordon. Coulson had never mentioned any index to her.
"S.H.I. has an index for enhanced people. Anyone who commits a crime goes on there" Mike was surprised that Daisy didn't know this since she worked with these people.
Daisy wondered why Coulson had never brought it up, "Am I on there?" she was almost too afraid to ask but she needed to know whether he had put her.
Mike shook his head, "No"
Daisy closed her eyes and sighed in relief. Coulson still trusted her. She didn't understand why but she knows that Coulson is more than aware of her being the culprit who's been killing these people. Yo-Yo noticed the relief in Daisy's eyes and wondered why she looked… calm and slightly happy at the mention of this S.H.I.E.L.D organisation.
"We're going to need to prepare. We could be up against several enhanced and one burning inhuman" Gordon said as he put his hands in his pockets.
"I can easily take on these enhanced people. I'm more worried about Ward," Mike said as he twisted in his arm that had a gun in it.
"I will deal with Ward" Daisy said without hesitation. You see, she knew something that the rest didn't… she knew that Ward had taken the drug willingly, and she was pissed.
"There's no way you three can deal with these people alone" Yo-Yo said, "Let me go with you"
"No" Daisy firmly said, there was no way she was going to let Yo-Yo come when she didn't even know how many enhanced people were there.
"Skye!"
"No, I need you here" Daisy may be the youngest, but she was leading them all. Right after the destruction of the Afterlife, she had given everyone enough money to get started somewhere new, anywhere in the world of their own choosing. Gordon teleported them while she gave them the money, leaving her penniless. She was homeless and jobless right now, which is why she was hiding out in Colombia with Yo-Yo who used this space to plan raids into the police department with other people, "If things go south and I don't come back. I need to be able to count on another inhuman to make sure everyone else is safe. I would ask Lincoln but the idiot gets drunk at the local bar everyday"
Yo-Yo realised what Daisy was saying. She was saying that she might not come back from this and she wanted her to lead the inhumans, but she wasn't strong enough for this mission. Daisy was right when she said that she could barely help herself, how was she supposed to help the inhumans when she couldn't even liberate her people. But she wasn't going to say no to Daisy… it showed how much the younger girl trusted her. She nodded her head and backed down.
Daisy looked at Gordon and Deathlok, "Give us a moment". The boys nodded their heads and left to go upstairs. She waited for them to leave before pulling something out of her pocket and giving it to Yo-Yo.
Yo-Yo grabbed the object and flipped it open. It was a badge with Daisy's name on it and the word S.H.I.E.L.D written straight on the bottom. The badge was in the shape of an eagle, what an American thing, "What is this?"
"If things go south… and I don't come back. I need you to give that to someone" Daisy thought it'd be cruel to leave the team hanging in the dark. She didn't want them looking for her when she was dead, it would only lead to disappointment and false hope.
Yo-Yo was confused as to why Daisy looked so heartbroken over this, it was like she was saying goodbye to her family but the only people who Daisy considered to be family were them, "Wait… You worked for S.H.I.E.L.D"
Daisy nodded her head and looked down at the badge. A small smile appeared on Daisy's face when she remembered the day that Coulson said he was proud of her and she couldn't help but cry at those words. She gulped down her saliva and shook her head, "In 3 days, click this twice, it will send a GPS signal of your location to them, so make sure you're somewhere secluded. All I need you to do is put that in the jet and then leave. Don't stick around to talk to them"
Daisy was very adamant about that part, if Yo-Yo stuck around, there is no doubt in her mind that they will convince her to help them.
"Who are they to you?" Yo-Yo didn't know these people nor trusted them, but it looked like Daisy had a secret double life. She wondered if this was the people who made her happy. Lincoln had mentioned Daisy being in a safe place, but didn't go into detail.
"Nothing" Daisy said but even Yo-Yo could tell that the girl was lying, "They're good people. Better than me"
She turned around to leave but before she could, Yo-Yo pulled her into a hug and said, "Don't die out there… be safe Chica"
"Afterlife? What does that mean?" Bobbi questioned as she walked into the middle of the bus. She couldn't help but think that the entire team seemed tense around her. Everything was great at the retreat but after getting back on base, and with Daisy going missing, everyone seemed to be on the edge of their seat.
Jemma walked into the room with a tablet in her hand, "I don't think that the message is for us… but for Daisy"
The tiredness that everyone was feeling with the stress of Daisy being gone, these new missions that prove that HYDRA is back on the move, and with Calvin still out there, suddenly disappeared when Daisy's name was mentioned, "What do you mean?" May asked.
"I analysed the blood sample of the dead man who wasn't supposed to be there and…" Jemma tapped on her tablet and displayed it on the screen.
Everyone looked at it with confusion except for Fitz, "Oh my god"
"Any day Simmons" Coulson said, still not understanding Fitz's reaction or how this relates to Daisy.
"His an inhuman" Both FitzSimmons said together.
"Wait… so Calvin is killing his experiments now?" Bobbi asked, "That doesn't make sense"
"A lot of this don't make sense" Jemma muttered as she closed the window and pulled up the profiles of the enhanced that Calvin had taken.
"It has nothing to do with us" Coulson said as he leaned against the table and looked at the profiles of each and every enhanced. Each and every person on here was dangerous thus, why they were locked up in isolation.
"It has everything to do with Daisy" May sighed, she tried to hide the guilt in her voice but Coulson could pick up on it. They both shared the responsibility of Daisy going down this path.
"I'm still confused," Fitz said as he raised his hand in the air to see if anyone else was confused to.
"Yeah me to" Jemma agreed as she raised her hand in the air as well.
"He's declaring a war on Daisy. We know that Daisy treats the inhumans like her own family and he killed one of her. And thus far, the 5 bodies we found were all connected to HYDRA which is connected to Calvin" Coulson explained.
"T-That makes sense" Fitz said as he nodded his head, understanding the situation.
"What started all of this?" Bobbi asked, "It can't be a coincidence that Daisy goes off the grid for 6 months and then all of a sudden this war breaks out"
"Well, we're not going to get any answer by standing around here and doing nothing" Coulson could feel his blood boiling, this was something. It was better than having nothing and now he knows that Daisy is definitely alive and not being used by Calvin since he was also searching for her, "Bobbi, I need you to hack into any sec-'
"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa" Fitz suddenly shouted as his tablet began blaring with an alarm, "I didn't do anything. I swear" he said as he tossed the tablet onto the table
Coulson picked it up and looked in confusion but then the confusion soon turned into realisation, "It's Daisy" he muttered softly, "Fitz, these are coordinates"
Fitz's eyes widened, he snatched the tablet back and instantly typed the coordinates into the GPS system. He tilted his head in confusion, "Colombia?"
"Wait… Daisy's in Colombia?" Bobbi didn't believe it. It was way too random, "This could be a trap. Why would she contact us now? Out of all times?"
"And how did she send us her GPS?" Jemma asked as she looked at the map, "This is Tatacoa desert. There's no signal"
"It's Daisy" May knew how good Daisy was when it came to hacking, no signal? No problem, Daisy would find a way.
"Sir, I'm not saying that we shouldn't go there but… It could be a trap. Maybe we should wait for a bit, until Mack and Hunter comes back", Bobbi knew she was being selfish, especially if that was really Daisy and she really needed their help, but if Daisy returns to base when the takeover happens, then she was afraid that S.H.I.E.L.D agents were going to get hurt which can get Daisy into trouble, enough trouble to get her locked into a cell forever.
Coulson was going to do something that he would never usually do, "Okay. How about this, May, Fitz and Simmons, what are your thoughts? Should we go here or not?"
"Yes" May said instantly.
"Absolutely" Fitz agreed.
"Daisy is one of us. It doesn't matter whether she's been gone 6 months or 6 years, if she calls us we owe it to her to answer the phone" Jemma said as she looked at Bobbi straight in the eye s as Bobbi was the only one who had reservations about this.
That was all Coulson needed to hear to know that Bobbi was hiding something. He was no psychologist, but from Bobbi's personality, he knew that she saw Daisy as a little sister, there was no doubt about it. So if she is hesitating on finding Daisy, even if it could be a trap, then she was hiding something. Something that could put Daisy in danger.
"May" Coulson nodded his head to his partner who knew what to do. She was going to pilot the bus to Colombia, "Everyone, strap in. We're going to Colombia"
Coulson walked to the pilot seat and sat in the passenger seat. He could his heart beating at a rapid rate at the thought of seeing Daisy again, he knew that everyone was feeling the same way too.
"Don't get your hopes up" May knew exactly what Coulson was thinking, he was thinking that Daisy was the one who sent them the coordinates.
"I'm not getting my hopes up"
May scoffed at that, yes he was, "It's unlikely that it's Daisy. She would never contact us for help, especially not when Calvin declared war on her"
Coulson blinked a few times, crap. He was so focused on finding Daisy that he completely forgot about her reckless and self-destructive tendencies, "Then why'd you agree if you don't think it's Daisy?"
"Because, the person who sent us the message is either an ally, or.."
"Foe" Coulson might have been a little too irrational on this one, but he was desperate. He had tried finding any traces of Daisy but it was useless, the girl was a HYDRA assassin who knew how to make herself disappear.
"Let's just hope it's an ally"
Yo-Yo was walking back and forth as she stood in the desert all alone. She knew this was a stupid idea, especially because if Daisy found out, the young girl would kill her. Daisy was intimidating without her powers, imagine her with her powers. But she was worried about Daisy, ever since Jiaying died, she rarely spoke to anyone, she just stays in her room and stares at the whiteboard all day.
She rarely showed any emotions too, it was reminding her more and more of Skye, the person Daisy used to be in HYDRA. Daisy has come too far to revert back into a ruthless killer. And for whatever reason, these S.H.I.E.L.D people provoked raw and genuine emotions within her.
She looked up to see a flying aircraft in the air and immediately knew that she needed to make the decision right now, she either told them everything that Daisy told her not to do, or runaway as planned. Daisy had told her to do this in 3 days, but she could barely last an hour. She needed to do this right away, it was too late to back out.
Actually… not, it was never too late. She could superspeed away but that seemed cowardly plus, she was doing this for Daisy… oh well.
It was too late.
The plane landed, and the door opened.
She saw two female agents walking out of the plane with guns pointed at her, this wasn't very welcoming. Was this how they greeted Daisy? How odd.
"I come in peace" Yo-Yo said with her hands raised in the air incase they tried to shoot her. She was faster than a speeding bullet, but she wasn't ready to expose herself yet.
"Who are you?" The older white man asked. Daisy made friends with the white man? She looked at the older asian women and couldn't help but think how stoic her expression is, and then moved onto the blonde white lady… damn, Daisy was hanging out with too many white people.
"I'm Elena Rodriquez but others call me Yo-Yo"
"By other's do you mean Daisy?"
Daisy? Oh right Skye. Sometimes she got confused between the two. She was used to calling Daisy, Skye, "Yes. She's a friend of mine… a good friend", she pulled out the badge and passed it to the old white man whose face instantly dropped.
"Where'd you get that?" The white man growled but she wasn't intimidated, if anything, she was confused by the overprotective tone in his voice.
"Daisy… she told me to give to you if she doesn't return..."
"Return? From where?" Now the older Asian woman was the one who was asking her the question, with the same kind of protective tone as this older man. She would think that these with Daisy's parents if she didn't know that Jiaying and Calvin were. Daisy had come clean with everyone, she announced it to the inhumans in order to make them lose their faith in her but nobody blamed her for her father's wrong doings. If anything, they wanted to fight this war but she wouldn't let anyone, especially because everyone had their own lives.
Yo-Yo shook her head, "I can't tell you that"
"Like hell you can't"
Okay, so the Asian women had a tone, a mean and threatening one. But she was more scared of Daisy than this woman, "I don't even know if I can trust you. Daisy told me to give this to you in 3 days but I'm deciding to give this to you in 3 hours"
The man didn't seem pleased with her answer, "There's only one reason why I can think of that Daisy would return this to me, and that's because she's a on a suicide mission", Yo-Yo was confused as to how this man knew Daisy so well, "You decided to give this to me in 3 hours rather than waiting for 3 days, I want to know why"
Okay…now Yo-Yo was feeling a little intimidated by him. She knew that she could just run away now that the man had the badge, but she needed to save Daisy, "Daisy… you don't know what she means to us… to the inhuman community". She watched as the man gestured for his agents to lower their guns and gestured for her to continue, "The reason why we remained safe for so long is because of the sacrifices that she has made for us. When we messed up, Daisy would clean up our mess, whether it's through killing innocent people or working for HYDRA to earn money for us"
"She's not a god damn weapon!" The Asian woman shouted as she took a step forward with her hands clenched into a fist, "She's a kid. She 20 years old for god sake"
Yo-Yo was taken back by the woman's outburst, she wasn't expecting her to jump in to defend Daisy like that, and she especially didn't expect her to call Daisy a kid and not a weapon. She could tell that these people genuinely loved and cared for Daisy, so she was going to take a leap of faith and trust them, "I can take you to Daisy but under what circumstance…"
"What is it?" The man asked.
"Daisy is going down a dark path… I just want to ask you to save her from that… save her before it's too late" Yo-Yo knew that she was being weak by asking them for help, but she really needed Daisy to not die on the battlefield.
Without hesitation the man answered, "I'm not giving up on her"
It was now almost midnight. The darkness gave them the advantage since Daisy was used to fighting in the dark, Deathlok had night vision, and Gordon was blind. Daisy finished putting on her fire retardant jacket, fingerless gloves and a metal lower face mask that blocked her mouth and nose. She looked at the watch that FitzSimmons had made for her, there was a crack across the screen and the watch stopped working ages ago, but that didn't matter. She likes wearing it because it looks cool… and it reminded her of S.H.I.E.L.D. She shook her head, now was not the time to be thinking about Coulson, May, Jemma, Fitz, Bobbi, Mack or even Hunter, she needed to stay focused. She knew exactly what her father wanted, he wanted to see the monster that he created, so be it.
She picked up a sword and sheathed it over her back and picked up several different weapons to hide in her belt and boots. She cracked her knuckles and turned around to look at Gordon, then nodded her head, giving him the signal to grab her and Deathlok's shoulders. Instantaneously, they were at the entrance of the Afterlife.
She was the first to walk in and as she was walking, she was also talking, "Okay guys, remember, if things get to dan-" she paused when she realised that no-one was following. She looked at the two men who had confusion written on their faces, "What the hell guys? Now's not the time"
"Eugh… we can't get through," Deathlok said as she tried walking through the barrier but failed to do so.
"He's blocking my powers… I can't get in", Gordon said as he put his hand against the barrier and tried pushing it, but it didn't work.
Oh shit. Daisy pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, she realised that this wasn't a war between inhumans and enhanced, this was a war between her and her father. She looked up and gave them a look that told them all they needed to know.
"No! Daisy!" Gordon growled as he began slamming against the barrier, "We'll find another way!"
Daisy shook her head, there was no other way. She was tired of living like this, constantly on the edge, not knowing when her father was going to strike. She already made the mistake of wasting time with S.H.I.E.L.D instead of focusing on her father. Because of her, Jiaying died, her mother died right in front of her. She was weak and useless. She had to stand idly by as Jiaying got a bloody hole in her stomach. Every time she fell asleep, she would see Jiaying dying in her arms.
She ignored the shouts of Gordon and Deathlok and ventured into the Afterlife by herself. As she walked through the familiar yet unrecognisable streets and buildings that were burnt to the ground, she could hear it, hear the heartbeats of the people she was going to kill… all except Ward. She wasn't going to kill him.
She rounded the corner and saw her father standing there with a proud and happy smile plastered on his face with Ward by his side and the enhanced freaks in front of him. The street lamp lights were flickering, which allowed the enhanced, Ward and Calvin to see her.
"Daisy! My baby girl" Calvin looked at his beautiful daughter, he saw the bloodlust in her eyes and knew that this was all worth it. Everything that he had done for her was worth it because now, she has become the person who he wanted her to be… a killing machine where nobody can hurt her.
Daisy didn't say a word. She just looked at Calvin with rage coursing through her veins and a vengeance for blood.
"You don't have to say anything sweetie, I just wanted to say tha-"
Daisy wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him ramble random crap. She raised her hand and released a concussive blast that caused them all to fall onto their backs, including her father.
"Okay, no talking" He signalled for the inhumans to attack her as he began to walk away, "I'll be waiting for you baby girl"
Daisy snarled when she saw him leave, but she realised that he wasn't leaving the Afterlife, he was going to a secluded area, he was going to the hilltop. She realised what he was doing, he was trying to test her abilities. She saw the enhanced run towards her while Ward stood back, good, she wasn't sure if she would be able to take them both on.
There were 4 enhanced, one had razors as hands, the next had razor sharp teeth and a metal tail attached to his back, oh hell no, he better not try to bite her, the other looked like he had superhuman strength and the final one… actually looked quite ordinary actually.
Wait… she took that back.
The man opened his mouth and his jaw dropped down to his chest, for a second there was silence, but then a high-pitched screeching noise which pierced her ears and forced her to kneel on her knee as she tried to block out the sound of the noise. Yep, he was going to be her first target. She saw the other 3 charging at her whilst he was screaming at the back. She got back up to her feet and ignored the fact that blood was now dripping from her ear to attack the enhanced. She pulled out her sword and got into an offensive position.
The razor clawed woman was the first to try to attack her but Daisy dodge it but before she could counter, a super strong man grabbed her collar, which was easily able to twist out of it. She was able to jump up and dodge the swinging tail.
After dodging everyone's attack, she reached to the back of her belt and pulled out a small dagger. She flicked her wrist and sighed in relief when the screeching sounds finally stopped and instead, the man was gurgling blood as the tiny piece of dagger was embedded into his throat. She saw him collapse onto his knees and then his entire body went limp.
That was easy, but her ears were still ringing from the sound. She heard someone trying to attack from the back but she was fast, she used her sword to deflect the razors from scratching her. She continued to dodge and deflect most of the enhance's movements but, the issue was she was exerting too much energy on the defence as their attacks just kept coming. When she felt the man's tail wrap around her ankle, she immediately slammed her sword down onto the tail which prevented him from move but with her moment of distraction, the razor women in front of her lunged forward but Daisy maneuverer to the side, manage to escape but not without a cut on her cheekbones, Jesus, that almost got her eye. The superstrong man, took this opportunity to lift her up and throw her into a nearby wall.
Ouch, that was rude.
She immediately got back onto her feet and knew that this wasn't going to work, she was going to need to take them out one by one. She turned her head to look at the street lamp, Calvin better not have given them night vision. She lifted her hand up and quaked the lights out. She felt the enhanced heartbeats elevate when they could no longer see her.
Daisy smirked as she casually walked through the sword that was holding the scorpion man down. She wrapped her hand on the hilt of her sword, in less than a second, she lifted it up and sliced the man's tail off, causing a pained scream echo in the Afterlife. She was going to let him suffer since he was an asshole who kept taunting her. She then sneaked behind the superstrong man who was frantically swinging punches in midair, she could hear how pathetic his attempts were. She simply drove her sword into his chest and then she walked over to the women who was begging for her life. Daisy ignored her pleas and cleanly slit her throat.
But just when she thought it was over until the man whose tail she cut off, jumped up and bit her on the shoulder. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, she really shouldn't taunt her enemies. She elbowed him in the face and stabbed the sword through his chest before dropping her sword.
Now it was silent and the only sounds that could be heard were the howling winds and the flickering flames in the palms of Ward's hand. She knew that this was going to be hard, for the simple reason that she wasn't trying to kill Ward.
"Ward!" She shouted, she could hear her voice echoing but it didn't matter, she needed to get through to him, she wasn't going to lose anyone else, "Snap out of it!"
He didn't listen, he charged at her and she could feel the heat on her skin instantly. He threw a fiery punch towards her head but she used her quake to move his hand to the side of her face. She used her quake to hit him in the stomach but Ward was fast, he grabbed onto her wrist and put enough pressure on it to attempt to break it, but Daisy's bones were now reinforced by metal, it was going to take a lot more than that to break a bone however, it didn't stop her wrist from burning.
She quickly jumped up, wrapped her legs around Ward's neck, pulled him to the ground and twisted his arm, causing it to dislocate.
Wait… can Ward feel pain?
She remembered a little too late as Ward when Ward maneuverer to a top position and tried to punch her head but luckily, she rolled out of the way and stood up on her own two feet. She felt sweat dripping down her face and back from being near his fire. Luckily, she had minimal burns due to the protective clothing she was wearing.
The two began fighting, it looked like they were sparring due to the fact that they looked like they were going back and force in their fight. Ward had hit her face a few times but the metal face mask prevented his fire from leaving in burns. His face didn't wear much better as blood was dripping down his head and mouth.
Daisy was using her quake to extinguish the fire before it hit her skin, but that didn't stop his bare knuckles from hitting her body. She never realised how hard it was to use both her quake to distinguish the flames, and keep up her defence so Ward didn't get a hit on her.
Daisy clenched her fist and threw a powerful punch that was going to be powerful enough to quake Ward back but simultaneously,, Ward threw a powerful punch towards her ribs. With Ward's lit fist landing on her ribs, she could feel the fire burning through her shirt and her flesh but she ignored the pain and followed through with her strike.
All this happened in a second.
Ward's body flew back into the wall and Daisy could feel his bones breaking from the impact of her quake, but she didn't care. He would heal from that once he snapped out of it. The first thing she noticed wasn't the pain, but the smell of her flesh burning. She looked down and saw blood oozing out of her torso, but she bit back the pain and ignored it. She walked towards Ward who was trying to stand up but failing. She could tell that his legs were broken in several places and so was his arms, but at least she didn't damage his spine.
She put him in a chokehold and forced him to look at the wreckage that he had caused, "WAKE UP!', shouted in his ears, she didn't give a damn that he lit his hands on fire and was clawing at her arms to let him go, "Look at what you did! You destroyed everything! You destroyed our home! Our people!" she screamed, she didn't realise that she was crying until she felt something trickling down her, "Wake up and look at what you did!".
Ward ignored her and tried to burn her arm off but it didn't work, she was able to negate his fire by suppressing it with the vibrational air around him. She closed her eyes and focused on finding the nanotechnology that was inside of him, if she could find it, she could break it… after a few seconds, she quaked it apart.
But the second she did.
Ward let out an animalistic roar. Daisy was too late, she couldn't move back or dodge the blast, but the least she could do was create a weak but effective forcefield around her as an explosive wave of fire released from his body and caused her to fly back into the wall.
She felt something piercing through her torso, and looked down, something had cut her, but at least she wasn't on fire. She allowed herself to take a moment to rest, her back was against the wall. She could feel herself getting light headed from the blood loss but she didn't have time to care. She watched as Ward looked around, his eyes finally registering what he had done.
The entire Afterlife was in ruins.
He had done this.
He had destroyed the only place he ever thought of as home.
Tears ran down his face as he remembered what he had done.
Rain began pouring down their faces but neither of them cared, the only thing that mattered was that Ward was back.
Daisy put her hand over her wounds and closed her eyes, the wounds slowly began to close as she used her power to close it. She bit back scream as the pain was excruciating, but if she made a sound she was afraid that she would never stop screaming. Whether it was from the pain of her wound, or the pain that has been building up ever since Jiaying's death.
Daisy dragged herself to stand up and walked over to Ward who was crying on his knees.
"J-Jiaying?"
Daisy closed her eyes and shook her head. Tears were streaming down her face but the rain mixed with her blood hid that fact. She pulled her metal face mask off, revealing a pale face with a bloodied lip and bleeding nose, and tossed it to the side. She listened to Ward cry louder, and his fists were slamming against the concreted at his own self-hatred. She remembered how it felt, to have her emotions switch on after being off for so long, but it was worse for Ward, because he was emotionless for months while she was emotionless for a few hours. She was still mad at him for taking the drug willingly, but she couldn't do much about it. Not when her best friend was in pain. She gently pulled Ward's head into her shoulder and let him sob into her arms for a bit.
She knew she couldn't waste any more time, she could feel her body growing weaker by the second, "I'm sorry" she muttered softly before hitting a pressure point on his neck that knocked him unconscious. She gently laid Ward's body down and knew that Gordon would find him once this was over.
She stood up and clumsily began walking up to the hilltop where she saw her father leaning on the fence.
The rain stopped pouring.
And all the rage that she had built up over the course of her entire life suddenly dissipated and the feeling of dread and sadness overcame her.
12 year old, Skye sat on the diner seat with a plate of fish and chips in front of her and a glass of water. She was sitting across from her father who was watching her with a proud smile on his face, "I heard you completed a mission last week"
Skye's small brown eyes turned her attention from the chips, to her father. She swung her tiny legs and tried to hide the fact that she was scared of what she was becoming from him. Ivanoff had already beat her for crying over the dead man that she had killed. She nodded her head and began playing with her food.
"What's wrong? You don't like the food?", Skye shook her head and Calvin knew what was wrong, "It was hard wasn't it? Killing someone?"
Skye looked up into her father's eyes and tried to search for any signs of anger but there was only understanding. She nodded her head and asked in a small voice, "Does it get easier?"
Calvin blinked a few times and thought about the question, "It does. As time passes, you learn how to switch that part of you off". Skye picked up her chip and bit into it, "You know, I'm proud of you"
Skye stopped chewing and froze when she heard her father praise her. She had never gotten praise before, not from the nuns, not from her foster parents and not from Ivanoff. She tilted her head in confusion and tried to register what he was saying.
"You're growing into a strong beautiful girl"
Skye found herself smiling at that, "Really?"
Calvin's own fatherly smile matched hers, "Yes, of course! And you are only going to get stronger from on out. Nobody will ever be able to hurt my baby girl". Skye laughed as her father playfully ruffled her hair and began telling her different stories that made her smile and laugh without a care in the world.
"10 years ago… I made you a promise… and I like to think that I kept my it"
Daisy found herself growing tired with each second. She wasn't sure whether she was growing tired from the blood loss, or from the weight of the world of her shoulders.
"You did" Daisy admitted as she watched her father turn around to look at her. Despite the expressionless mask she wore, she could feel her heart shattering to pieces when she knew that there was no room for redemption, not for him. Not anymore.
"I don't regret it"
"I know". That was the worst part, everything he did, he did because he thought he was keeping a promise. He thought that this was what she wanted. Despite the screams and yells of pain for him to stop, he thought that was just her fear talking.
"Look at you… you're so strong and powerful" Calvin said as he spoke with pride. There was no craziness in his voice, he sounded like the man who she saw as her father.
Daisy felt her walls crumbling and the mask was cracking as she spoke her true feeling. She knew her body better than anyone, and knows when she doesn't have much time, "I would have been happy with you… before the experiments", her voice cracked as she spoke her honest truth.
Calvin looked at her with shock and for a second, she saw a tinge of guilt and regret but he shook his head and looked at her tearfully, "It wasn't enough". He knew what the Brody's did to her baby girl and he knew about the abuse she suffered. If she becomes an inhuman, then no-body will be able to hurt like that, never again.
"It was for me," Daisy cried. She remembered the rare moments she shared with her father, whether it was them bonding over killing someone a certain way, or simply exchanging stories about different missions that they had been on. It was more than dysfunctional and messed up, but those memories would have been enough for her to love her father. Tears of a broken girl streamed down her face, she couldn't hold back the sob from escaping her lips as she stared at her father.
Calvin looked down at his shoes and allowed his own tears to run down his face, he still didn't regret anything but he was beginning to realise that his baby girl didn't want power… she wanted a family, "I couldn't give you a family… your mu-"
"Don't talk about her!" Daisy shouted, the rocks around them began to vibrate but Calvin was phased by it.
Calvin continued to speak without a worry about his safety, "Your mother hated me for what I had done to you. Even if I brought you back to us and tried living as a normal family… she would have taken you away from me"
"Is that why you killed her?" Daisy still didn't understand his reasonings for killing his wife, her mum that she genuinely wanted to spend more time with.
Calvin shook his head and had a look of sadness in his eyes, "I killed her because I made a promise to her"
Jiaying shook her head and chuckled when Daisy failed to make another dumpling, "You have to be more gentle", she gently grabbed the piece of pastry out of a frustrated Daisy and showed her how to pinch it, "Like this…"
"You know, it'd be easier if you just made it, and I just ate it" Daisy said with a cheeky smile on her face but Jiaying just chuckled and shook her head. She wasn't going to let Daisy off the hook that easily.
"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime"
Daisy deadpanned when she heard an inspirational quote coming out of her mother's mouth, "That applies to humans, you can live till I'm old and grey and still be able to cook for me" Daisy joked without meaning any harm. She didn't realise the sad expression in Jiaying's eyes as she reached to pick up another pastry.
Jiaying decided to change the topic, "You can't stay here forever"
Daisy looked up from her dumpling and turned to face Jiaying. There was a small voice inside of her head that screamed that Jiaying didn't want her, that she didn't want her to stay because she was too much to handle. She began fiddling with the pastry and shyly asked, "You don't want me here?"
Jiaying sometimes forget that Daisy was an orphan who was surrounded by people not wanting her. It was one of things that she regretted the most, because of her, Daisy was forced to go through HYDRA and her crazy ex-husband. Although.. evetime she thought about Cal, she could only remember the good things about him, "Of course I want you Daisy… you're my daughter" she said as she gently cupped Daisy's face with her clean hand, "But I know you… I know that you won't be happy here"
Daisy shook her head, even though a small voice in her head said that was true, "I am… I'm happy here with you" she admitted and it was true.
"And your S.H.I.E.L.D friends?"
Daisy froze at that. If she was being honest, she did miss them and she did want to see them. But she felt like if she left here, than something bad was going to happen. She couldn't explain it, "They don't need me" she shrugged off the question.
Jiaying looked at the look in Daisy's eyes and knew that she had nothing to worry about. Even if she was gone, Daisy would have a new family, "Go off to bed, I'll clean this up"
Daisy nodded her head and put the ruined dumpling down, but before running upstairs she gave a back hug to her mum and said, "I love you". Daisy quickly ran away in embarrassment.
Daisy ran so fast, that she missed the way that Jiaying had tears streaming down her face. Jiaying looked down at her hands and saw that her hands were starting to wrinkle, she didn't want to tell her daughter or Gordon, because she knew that they would get someone for her to drain their life-force. She sighed and finished washing up before going upstairs into her room.
She gasped when she saw a figure standing in the room.
"It's just me"
Jiaying would recognise that voice from anywhere, she turned on the lights and saw Calvin standing there with a sad look on his face. She knew why he had come here. Raina had told her about the vision that she had. If she was being honest, she was looking forward to this day. The day where she'll finally reunite with Cal for the last time… but this was too soon.
"I know why you're here" There was no anger in her voice, only peace and it made Calvin's chest clench at how accepting she was of her fate, "Our daughter, she's beautiful"
Calvin smiled at that and let out a tearful chuckle, "She is" he agreed as he continued to close the distance between them.
"I knew that you were coming but… I didn't think it would be this soon… I thought I'd have more time with her…" Jiaying admitted sadly, she knew that there was persuading with Calvin, but she just wanted him to know what she was feeling.
"I wish I could give you more time but… I can't. I'm dying too" Calvin admitted softly as he cupped his beautiful wife's face. He wanted to tell her so many things, like how he was sorry for everything that he had done, but Jiaying didn't need to hear his excuses, "I have 3 months tops… and that's with the drugs in my system"
Jiaying nodded her head and felt disappointed even though she knew there was no point in hoping, hoping for a chance to stay with her daughter and watch her grow, "I understand"
Calvin gently pressed his forehead against his wife, and said, "Tell me… tell me that you want this".
Jiaying gently lifted her head up to look at her husband and gently brushed the tears away from his cheeks, "I'm a parasite… if you don't do this… no one will. I rather it be by your hands than HYDRA or… a random person"
Calvin sighed, he wished that she had a different request for him but he made a promised to her all those years ago. When they were young and working at the clinic, before Whitehall, she had made him promised her, that she wanted him to end her life when he was dying. Like Romeo and Juliet.
He reached to his back pocket and pressed the nuzzle into her stomach, "I love you" he whispered before firing 3 times.
Daisy stumbled back at his statement, she looked at him with disbelief written on her face, "No… that's bullshit!"
Calvin knew how his daughter must be feeling, he never meant for her to see that, she wasn't supposed to be there. He had asked Raina to distract her long enough for him to do what was necessary, but Raina failed him, "She needs to feed off people's life forces to maintain her form"
"I know!" Daisy shouted, she never held that against her mother, she did what she needed to survive and it wasn't like she was going around killing people who did no wrong, Gordon would bring back someone who deserved death for Jiaying.
"She was tired…everything must die… including your mother"
Daisy knew that too, but she wasn't ready and the way that Calvin had killed her was undeserving and cruel, "Not like that"
"I never meant for you see that… but she had asked me to do it. She was tired of living and frankly… so am I" For the first time, Daisy registered how sickly Calvin looked, his face was pale and he significantly lost weight, "I'm okay with dying… because now I know that you can take care of yourself and you know what? I'm so proud of you"
Daisy didn't want to hear those words, not from his mouth, "The Afterlife… why destroy it? It was the only place where Inhumans could live in peace"
Calvin knew all about the Afterlife, he and questioned Ward about it and found out that Daisy was being used by these Inhumans to keep them safe, "This place… these people are weighing you down. Tell me, now that it's gone and the Inhumans have gone their sperate ways… don't you feel free?"
Daisy closed her eyes and bit the inside of her cheeks. She hated how he was right, it was true. When Jiaying died, so did the Afterlife. Jiaying was the source of hope for peace, without her, she was pretty sure the Afterlife would have slowly died and turn into chaos.
"Was all of this worth it?" Daisy wanted to know whether breaking up the family and making himself the enemy, was worth it to make her as powerful as she currently was.
"It has to be"
Calvin began walking up to her but she knew that he wasn't going to hurt her. She knew that he just wanted to say goodbye, because he knew that she wasn't going to live. He, without hesitation, pulled Daisy into a hug and Daisy surprised herself by allowing him to do it.
Daisy allowed herself to close her eyes and imagine, just for a second that Calvin was the father she always wanted. Memories of her laughing with her father and even crying while her father comforted her during her HYDRA days, flashed before her eyes. She felt herself sobbing into her father's chest. She wished that she didn't have to do this, that she didn't have to kill him.
Despite the anger of the experiments, deep down she knew that he did it for her.
Deep down she trusted the fact that he loved her.
But he killed Jiaying.
Her mum.
Maybe, just maybe… if he didn't do that then she would have let him live.
But redemption was too late.
She listened to his heartbeat one last time and slowly began curling her fingers, crushing his heart but despite that, she could feel his need to hold onto his baby girl one last time, "My baby girl… live your life on your own terms… nobody can hurt you now" those were his last words before he drew his final breath and his entire body fell back.
She looked at her father's dead body and whispered, "Goodbye…dad"